1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a vehicle washing apparatus of the type having vertically suspended curtain-like washing elements and more particularly to means for displacing such elements to an inactive position to enable manual washing of a vehicle.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Some commercial car washing operations include both manually operated and automatically operated washing equipment within the same car washing bay. The customer has the choice of using only the manual equipment for one price or both the manual and automatic equipment for a greater price. The conventional automatic washing equipment includes either rotatable brushes or depending flexible curtain-like washing elements called "mitters". More specifically, a mitter is a fabric panel usually cut into multiple strips and suspended vertically from an overhead support structure. Washing occurs through relative movement between the car and brushes or mitters. When the automatic washing apparatus includes mitters, they are often moved back and forth through the vehicle bay while oscillating or reciprocating to clean all but the lower-most portions of the vehicle. Any portions not reached by the mitters are washed manually. Mitter apparatuses of this general type are shown, for example, in applicant's prior copending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 06/437,454 filed Oct. 28, 1982 and in the U.S. patents identified on page 1 of such application.
If the customer in a car wash facility having both manual and automatic mitter washing capability elects to wash a car entirely by hand, it is necessary to move the mitters out of the way. Heretofore, under such circumstances the mitters have usually been moved to one end of the vehicle bay where they will not interfere with the manual washing of a car. However, mitters moved to such position do take up valuable space, usually requiring the bay to be substantially longer than might otherwise be necessary. They also interfere with vehicle ingress to and egress from the bay.
Some prior U.S. patents suggest that suspended flexible washing or drying elements might be elevated out of the way of a vehicle to enable it to be washed manually. For example, Beer et al. U.S. Pat. No. 4,207,643, Weigele et al. U.S. Pat. No. 3,504,394, and Pulliam U.S. Pat. No. 1,908,788 suggest the use of an endless conveyer above the vehicle which suspends the washing or drying elements, with the elements being in contact with the vehicle as they move along a lower run of the endless conveyer but spaced above the vehicle as they move along an upper run of the conveyer. However, such a solution would be unsatisfactory as applied to washing mitters. First, although the endless conveyer might alleviate the horizontal space problem, it would create a vertical space problem requiring an abnormally high bay and attendant supporting structure. Second, the use of an overhead endless conveyer would cause the mitters to drip liquid onto the vehicle below. Third, the use of such overhead conveyers would likely not be applicable to long mitter washing strips because of the possibility of the strips becomming tangled with themselves and the conveyer mechanism as they travel along the upper run of the conveyer.
Wilson U.S. Pat. No. 2,854,680 discloses the use of an overhead trolley with a depending reel and cable arrangement for raising and lowering a power scrub brush mechanism to reach different vertical levels of a vehicle being washed. It is apparent from the Wilson patent that the mechanism disclosed is not intended to hoist the scrubbing mechanism vertically out of the way of the vehicle because inadequate clearance is provided for this purpose. Moreover, if a cable and reel-type mechanism were employed to lift mitter assemblies above a vehicle, an impractically high bay would be required for this purpose.
It is understood that Belanger Company of Northville, Mich. has manufactured car wash installations having mitter-type washers in which the entire mitter assembly including its supporting structure is elevated vertically out of the way when desired, using a complex counterweight mechanism. This solution to the problem of moving mitters out of the way when desired for unobstructed manual washing and vehicle ingress and egress has the same drawbacks as those previously mentioned with respect to the other prior art. Such a lifting mechanism requires an excessively high bay and does not prevent liquid on the mitters from dripping onto a vehicle below.
Accordingly, there is a need for a satisfactory means for displacing mitters to an inactive nonobstructing position within a vehicle washing bay while taking up a minimum of vertical and horizontal space within the bay.
It is therefore a primary objective of the present invention to provide an apparatus which fulfills the foregoing need and which overcomes the aforementioned deficiencies of the prior art.
More specifically, an object of the invention is to provide a vehicle washing apparatus of the mitter type which can be moved to a nonobstructing position when not in use without taking up additional space that would not otherwise be needed.
Another specific object is to provide a washing apparatus as aforesaid which enables a reduction in the overall length of a vehicle washing bay without any increase in the height of such bay.
Another specific object is to provide a washing apparatus as aforesaid which will not drip liquid onto a vehicle when moved to its inactive, nonobstructing position.
Another object is to provide an apparatus for elevating suspended mitter-type cleaning elements to an inactive position above a vehicle without elevating the support structure for such elements.
Another object is to provide an elevating apparatus as aforesaid which can be used in conjunction with a mitter assembly which moves back and forth through a washing bay to clean a vehicle therein.
Another important object is to provide a mitter elevating apparatus as aforesaid which can be retrofitted to existing mitter assemblies to convert all-automatic vehicle washing systems to automatic-manual systems in existing bays.
Other objectives are to provide a mitter elevating apparatus as aforesaid which is simple, economical to manufacture, and relatively maintenance free.